Two days before the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a case that could have a devastating effect on working people's collective-bargaining rights, IBEW International President Lonnie R. Stephenson is encouraging members across the country to take part in a national "Working People's Day of Action."

U.S. House Democrats unveiled a sweeping plan Thursday to invest $1 trillion in the nation’s decaying infrastructure, creating 16 million new American jobs by tackling everything from rickety bridges and railways to safe water, renewable energy and high-speed internet access.

One of the largest transmission projects in North America is coming to an end, and when it does, it will have connected two Canadian provinces for the first time and employed approximately 3,500 IBEW members along the way.

The AFL-CIO and Mexico’s National Union of Workers formally complained to the Department of Labor that Mexico is violating the already low labor standards of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

Recruiting women into the trades is getting a little easier, Lisa Langevin has found over more than 15 years as an electrician. But getting them to stay is another story – even as construction is booming across British Columbia.

Congress is close to passing the largest retreat on labor rights since the implementation of the National Labor Relations Act in 1935, and several wavering Senate Democrats will cast critical votes deciding whether the anti-worker effort succeeds or fails.

West Frankfort, Ill., Local 702 Business Manager Steve Hughart learned recently that a 96-year-old widow of a retired IBEW member was having trouble accessing her late husband’s benefits. Business agent Jason Woolard didn’t just help her secure those benefits; he went to her home and spent several hours helping get her finances in order.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is down at least 40 workplace safety inspectors since early 2017, a troubling trend attributable to Donald Trump’s hiring freeze coupled with attrition. Budget cuts under consideration by the White House are likely to make matters even worse for worker safety.

The U.S. unemployment rate has remained in the low single digits for the past several years, a sign of a strengthening economy since the 2008 recession ran roughshod over millions of working Americans. But finding a solid middle-class job can still be a struggle for some, especially for someone who has spent time behind bars.

The National Labor Relations Board put its first Republican majority in years to quick use, issuing a flurry of decisions in a single week in early December that unraveled important pro-worker gains made over the last eight years.

When three major hurricanes tore through the Caribbean earlier this year, they caused historic levels of devastation. Harvey dumped on Houston. Irma shook up Florida and Puerto Rico. Then came Maria. For Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Local 728 member Phil St. Jean, it was the island of Dominica that he kept his eye on.

New York Local 3 member Lou Alvarez has seen devastation before, but nothing prepared him for what he saw when he arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico, leading the first group of IBEW volunteers to arrive after Hurricane Maria made landfall two weeks before.

Several IBEW families are among thousands who have lost their homes to deadly wildfires that devastated northern California in October and ignited near Los Angeles in early December, propelled by hurricane-strength winds.

Energy generation and power distribution – an $880 billion a year business -- has changed more in the last 20 years than in the preceding 100, and that change is likely to accelerate in the coming years.

In Iowa, it’s no longer enough to simply vote for union representation. Now, public workers – those working for the state, counties, cities and towns – are being forced to repeat the process every two or three years thanks to anti-union legislation that requires “recertification” votes in the year leading up to a new contract.

Business Manager Jason Tibbs said Regina, Saskatchewan, Local 2067 has had a non-adversarial relationship with the conservative provincial legislature for the last several years. The relationship with SaskPower, its largest employer, has been a good one.

In the United States, President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement, arguing that only a businessman like him can bring back manufacturing and restore jobs that long ago left for Mexico.

Labor activists in Illinois have a chance to bury one of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s top anti-union priorities this week, and they’re putting the full-court press on wavering Republican legislators to join them.

When Tanisha Smythe started at Time Warner Cable in New York a decade ago she was living in a shelter with her newborn son. Seven months after Smythe and nearly 1,800 other members of New York Local 3 went on strike, she is facing a return to one.

Brother Paul Feeney will soon be the newest member of the Massachusetts State Senate after the Boston Local 2222 member and Verizon central office technician handily defeated his two opponents in the Oct. 17 special election.

The small town of Jackson, N.J., just half an hour’s drive from the Jersey shore, is home to the state’s first transitional housing program for homeless female veterans thanks to the vision and generosity of a local couple driven to serve.

Union membership has traditionally provided working families improved health insurance coverage. A recently-released report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that might be truer ever, even in the face of rising costs.

Virginia voters head to the polls on Nov. 7 to choose a new governor and state Legislature, and IBEW members in the state have been working hard to convince their neighbors to cast their votes for working families.

Uncontrolled wildfires have spread across parts of northern California, killing at least 40 and leaving entire neighborhoods and communities in ruins. Among those who have lost their homes are at least 45 IBEW members and their families, who had to race away from walls of flames, some with only moments to spare.

Since Memphis, Tenn., Local 474 received its official apprenticeship charter in 1947, instructors have trained well over 1,000 apprentices. But it wasn’t until this year that they finally got a building of their own in which to do it.

The gender pay gap is shrinking, but it’s happening at a glacially slow pace. One place where it’s smaller than average though, is the unionized trades. And collaborations like that between Oregon Tradeswomen, a nonprofit that supports women in the trades, and Portland, Ore., Local 48 are bringing great career opportunities to more and more women.

Nearly two dozen IBEW wiremen and linemen are on their way to begin rebuilding Puerto Rico’s shattered electrical grid. Fifteen are going from New York Local 3 and 15 are going from Miami, Tampa, Atlanta and other locals.

Houston Local 66 Business Manager Gregory Lucero met with an apprentice recently whose home had been damaged by flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey and suggested he apply for help from the Texas AFL-CIO’s Worker Relief Find.

International President Lonnie R. Stephenson in September joined the Council on Competitiveness, a Washington-based nonprofit whose mission is advancing American prosperity and increasing the United States’ competitiveness in the global marketplace.

Boston Local 2222 member Paul Feeney won the Democratic primary on Sept. 19 in his special election bid for a seat in the Massachusetts State Senate. He’ll go on to face Republican Jacob Ventura and independent Joe Shortsleeve in the Oct. 17 general election.

The IBEW and working families in West Virginia suffered a setback on Sept. 15, when the state’s Supreme Court squashed an injunction that prohibited implementation of a right-to-work law and sent the case back to the circuit court level.

In Hurricane Irma’s wake, the largest power restoration force in U.S. history mobilized to repair and rebuild the Southeast, with line crews coming from as far away as Seattle, California and even parts of Canada to pitch in. With nearly 8 million out of power, approximately 60,000 line workers, tree-trimmers and support staff from 250 utilities converged on Florida, led by IBEW members, who made up an enormous share of the restoration army.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio made clear whose side they are on during a Sept. 18 rally: the 1,800 New York Local 3 members who have been on strike against Charter/Spectrum for six solid months. Both urged the company to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a contract that’s fair for working families.

As members of the House of Representatives scrambled on Sept. 6 to pass an appropriations bill to keep the government running, Rep. Steve King of Iowa and others tried repeatedly to attach amendments that would gut the Davis-Bacon Act, a long-standing law that assures construction workers a living wage.

In late 2012, Modesto, Calif., Local 684 needed to get bigger. Work was picking up, and in the years following the 2008 recession, the downturn in construction had seen membership slip from a historical average of around 300 to just 228. Then-business manager Billy Powell decided it was time to take action.

After 16 years of an anti-union Liberal Party in power, many British Columbia working families were ready for change and put their faith – and votes – with the New Democrats. And after a historically close election, labour is celebrating an NDP victory.

More than 10 million people are without power in the Sunshine State after Hurricane Irma churned its way up the length of the peninsula over the weekend, unleashing 140 mph winds, heavy rain and 10-foot storm surges in some coastal areas.

Hurricane Harvey has been wreaking havoc on southeast Texas ever since it landed on Friday, and it’s shattering records along the way. Wherever possible, IBEW members are helping with rescue efforts and to restore power to the 300,000-plus residents without it.

Donna Doherty has been a New York Local 3 member for 38 years. She’s worked for Charter/Spectrum and the companies that preceded it as the city’s cable television franchisee, serving as one of the first woman technicians on the job and advancing to foreman in the technical operations department.

Talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement began Aug. 16 in Washington, but the White House objectives, released in July, have critics griping that the “new” plan looks a lot like the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal that Donald Trump – and the IBEW – opposed last year

The second-generation Local 309 wireman, has taken his love for the past to the extreme, authoring a book about the remarkable story of his own grandfather’s fight through war-torn World War II Europe, and then recreating that journey for an upcoming documentary film.

The first grid-scale solar installation built by Tampa Electric Co. was supposed to be the opening chapter of the company’s green energy future. It all nearly fell apart because of one of the oldest stories there is: shoddy work by nonunion contractors.

In collaboration with the aboriginal community and the building trades, Vancouver, B.C., Local 213 led a pilot program to recruit and train aboriginal youth interested in pursuing a career as an electrician.

Mike Duncan isn’t the only contractor providing high-quality craftsmanship in New Brunswick, but he might be the only one who gets his crew together every Friday for a group photo for the company Instagram account.

About 310,000 people live in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, spread out over more than 16,000 square miles – making it geographically larger than nine states. Outside of driving for several hours through three other states, one could reach the rest of Michigan only by air or ferry until 1957, when the five-mile Mackinac Bridge was opened.

This year, Union Plus granted over $11,000 in
scholarships to family members of IBEW workers. The scholarships were
awarded to 11 recipients who attend or are planning to attend
university, college trade or technical school.

Last October, the Media Department told the story of Johnstown, Pa., Local 459 member Tom Whitehead, his wife Kari and daughter Emily, who was in remission from leukemia after undergoing a revolutionary treatment at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Fellow IBEW members rallied around the Whiteheads and supported them both financially and emotionally during a time of crisis.

As the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance celebrates a decade of connecting union members through conservation, its Brotherhood Outdoors TV series kicked off its ninth season with a new look when it returned to the Sportsman Channel in July.

If you’ve ever experienced a power outage – especially in the dead of winter or during a sweltering heatwave – and breathed a sigh of relief when the lights came back on, take a second this July 10 to thank a lineworker for making it happen.

North Carolina adopted its right-to-work law in 1947, the same year the Taft-Hartley Act, which empowered states to curb the sources of union funding, passed the U.S. Congress. No move to repeal it has gained any noticeable momentum since.

On June 6, the same anti-worker groups who brought a 2015 California union-busting case to the Supreme Court petitioned the justices to weigh in on an eerily similar case, this time out of Illinois. At issue – again – is whether public employees can be compelled to pay “fair share” fees to a union to cover the costs of collective bargaining and representation performed on their behalf.

While Senate Republicans work behind closed doors to deliver a version of an Obamacare repeal that can pass the upper chamber, retired Americans are pushing back on the House version, passed in May, that would prove devastating for older workers and retirees.

When the Oklahoma Sooners decided in 2015 it was time for a major upgrade to the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, the university’s Board of Regents turned to the same IBEW contractor it’s used on the historic football structure for decades.

The IBEW apprenticeship program took center stage before the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee on Capitol Hill June 15, with a member telling lawmakers that IBEW training makes graduates immediately employable with journey-level skills that are valued anywhere.

Members of Chicago Local 134 gathered on Memorial Day this year, just as they have since 1935. It’s a different kind of Memorial Day gathering than anywhere else in the IBEW – or in the entire labor movement.

During the 2016 campaign, candidate Donald Trump promised a trillion dollars in infrastructure spending if elected. The news was met with cautious optimism by the construction industry, which stood to gain the most from a major spending spree by the federal government.

In Canada, young workers are three times more likely to be injured or killed in a workplace accident than their more experienced counterparts. That’s why an organization called My Safe Work goes into high schools to educate students on workplace safety—before they enter the job market.

Signals and communications workers at CN Railway in Canada ratified a new 5-year contact at the end of April, beating back company demands for concessions and ensuring stability for the more than 700 IBEW members through 2021.

In this month’s Electrical Worker, we shared the news of Wilmington, Del., Local 313 wireman Dave Amalfitano, who found a kidney donor in Chicago Local 9 apprentice Rob Vargas after the 28-year-old read an Electrical Worker story last August.

Emery Generating Station in Clear Lake, Iowa, has been
recognized as one of the best power plants in the nation and it’s due in part to
the work of its employees, many of whom are members of Cedar Rapids Local 204.

Trains, trolleys and legendary sleeping cars rolled out of the Pullman Company’s Chicago factory for a century until it was shuttered in 1981. Its demise signified the end of railcar production in the United States.

When Fredericton, New Brunswick, Local 37 Business Manager Ross Galbraith learned NB Power had won Canada’s Best Health and Safety Culture award for 2016, he was happy for their achievement, but not especially surprised.

When the Davis-Bacon Act became law
in 1931, there was a belief that government should use its buying power to
enhance the welfare of working people. It was a way to ensure a good wage and
that those wages would go to the local economy. That point of view is slowly
losing sway as the race to the bottom continues in the construction industry.

It was 2009 and Tim Tsotsonis wanted to work as an electrician again after a nearly 22-year absence. And he wanted to help others as a way of saying thanks for the help his family received caring for son Alexander, who has cerebral palsy.

Continuing a new tradition, Boston Local 103 hosted more than 350 girls from eastern Massachusetts area high schools on March 2 for a conference and career fair to encourage their interest in the skilled trades.

Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan have a plan to overhaul the American health care system, but their proposal preys on the old, the sick, the poor and the middle class while rewarding the super-rich and drug companies with a $600 billion tax cut.

From 2008 to 2009 the U.S. economy collapsed into the steepest recession it had seen since the 1930s. The $8 trillion housing bubble burst, thanks to largely unregulated, reckless financial dealings by big banks and Wall Street. Nearly 9 million Americans lost their jobs, 7 million more lost their homes and more than $2.8 trillion in retirement savings flew out the window nearly overnight.

February was a devastating month for unions in Iowa. Following November election wins in the House and Senate, Republicans, already in control of the governor’s office, commanded the entirety of the state’s legislative process for the first time in two decades. And they wasted no time in coming after unions.

With new advocacy groups popping up all over the internet, members of Congress using Snapchat and worldwide marches starting on Facebook, it may seem old-fashioned to think that organizing lessons can be found in not just a book, but one about someone born at the beginning of the last century.

With winter comes snowstorms, and with normal snowstorms come power outages and emergency work for the tens of thousands of IBEW lineworkers. Even a few inches of snow and ice can knock out power for hundreds of thousands of people.

Leif Andersen heard fellow workers on a jobsite at the BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver last spring talk about their union failing to listen to their concerns and continually siding with management.

The IBEW has worked successfully with Jobs to Move America to ensure public transportation projects create good paying jobs for working families in the communities they serve. The next success story might be in New York.

The march by GOP-controlled states to take away rights from working families continues as newly emboldened representatives and governors – elected with sweeping majorities – make their first order of business to cut paychecks and limit the voices of workers.

America’s bridges, roads and tunnels are in a sorry state, desperately in need of major investment, but Republicans on Capitol Hill are trying to make sure union labor has no part in rebuilding the country’s infrastructure.

On Jan. 10, America’s first large-scale “clean coal” power station was declared operational, and IBEW members from Houston Local 66 are playing an integral part in making the groundbreaking technology work.

It was a normal January night like any other. Members of Boston Local 103 were doing routine maintenance on an above-ground part of Interstate 93. They had no idea they were about to turn into local heroes.

Donald Trump’s nominee for labor secretary routinely stole from his workers and fostered an unsafe work environment in pursuit of personal and shareholder profit, according to current and former employees who spoke on Capitol Hill Jan. 10.

For many, Sunday morning starts with a lazy cup of coffee, maybe the sports page or readying the kids for church. But twice a month for nearly a dozen members of Detroit Local 58, Sunday starts at the union hall with 120 pounds of raw chicken.

On their first session of the new year, House Republicans brought
back a rule
written three years before the invention of the lightbulb that
would allow Congress to target specific federal workers and programs.

Rail infrastructure between Washington and New York has been suffering for decades, falling victim to heavy traffic combined with a lack of investment. But federal regulators have a plan for sorely-needed upgrades that could shorten commutes and lead to IBEW jobs.